Tuesday Favorites: Childhood Dis-enchantments

So, in a similar vein to last week's disappointments, I started thinking about those things in childhood to which we were so very attached... only to rediscover them in adulthood and wonder what we were thinking. Naturally we are less critical as kids and enjoy things based on simpler concepts. Perhaps you liked Flipper because dolphins were your favorite animal... not so much because the show was well written or offered any realistic or educational material.

Anyway, I thought it might be amusing to ask others about their own childhood dis-enchantments by sending out a questionnaire. Here are the answers (My own being the first set in grey):


1. Any foods you liked as a child that you like significantly less as an adult?

I used to like these gross Mamba candies that were like bigger, mushier, more sugary Starburst. My father used to take me and my sisters to 7/11 where we'd purchase these hideous squares of teeth rotting sweetness and mold them into little animals before popping them into our mouths.
macaroni and cheese (except for *occasionally* when the spirit moves me)
I loved all food and still do!
poptarts, they have become too sweet
warheads, airheads
There are items that I liked more then than I like now, such as hot dogs. Loved them as a kid, rarely eat them now. Well, come to think of it, I did eat cool whip straight on a few occasions as a child, and obviously I wouldn't do that now....Yuck.
Butter mints
NERDS. I was so fascinated with there being two flavors in each box. You sucked them out of a soggy cardboard box and crunched them down. Only to experience the flavor for hours afterward because they were stuck in your teeth still. Yummy! :(

2. Did you have a favorite movie that you discovered in adulthood was not as good as you remembered?

The Last Unicorn... don't get me wrong. I still like it for nostalgic reasons. I even own it. But it's pretty silly. Bad script, unimpressive directing.
The Dark Crystal (Sorry to those who still love it. My family tried to re-watch it a few years ago and it was SO SLOW).
The Goonies
Sneakers, it has a great cast, but not well done at all
ferngully definitely
Hmmm...probably, but then, I have always had excellent taste in art.
Star Wars, the acting is pretty bad. Although I still love Star Wars.
I have a suspicion that one movie I loved would end up like that, but I haven't been able to find it again. Don't even remember the name. It was something about a group of young ants who had to prove their usefulness before they got their third segment. Weird...I know. I don't know that I want to see it again though because in my mind - it's glorious.

3. TV show?

Gumby. I think I liked the "claymation" as a kid, but it's so bad. So bad. Doesn't make any sense.
Most of what was trashy or bad I probably wasn't allowed to watch, so, strangely (since I'm not a big TV-watcher by any means), I don't have a TV show that I now think sucks.
Not really...
It pains me to say it, but MacGyver
scooby doo. I can't stand it now, so annoying
No way, the TV I watched truly was awesome--Fraggle Rock, for example, is amazing at all ages.
All That!
I think I really still like what I used to watch as a child. I'm lucky there since I am re-watching so much of it!

4. Was their a ratty or ugly stuffed animal, toy, or object (like a favorite bowl) that you have gladly (or humorously) left behind?

I had this chalkboard box that held magnetic letters and stencils to help you spell out words. I was more interested in that toy than being social... there's video proof. It was funny. I also had an embarrassing load of stuffed animals... I only have the lions now and a few sentimental gifts...
This is a tough one, as I'm told I haven't changed much since elementary school (still love books, Batman, and being strange). I have collected bats since fifth grade, and, while I still keep my eyes open for tasteful bat stuff, I have some rather grotesque Halloween decorations that I keep tucked away in my closet. (That's when you get all the best bat stuff...) Also, I was too glad to get rid of my bounteous quantity of scrunchies. In an instant, those stopped being cool.
Not really
I had this red hooded sweatshirt that was pretty ugly that I loved wearing as a kid...
I had an orange sweater that I nicknamed the "sailor sweater" that was my cousin's. She gave it to me when I was about 12 and I wore it, with all the holes and tears, which made it more "sailor on the dock" like I guess until I was 19. I should've thrown it out many years before.....
No. I do not spend time with them anymore, but I have never gotten rid of stuffed animals or toys...much to my parents' annoyance....
I didn't get attached to toys or objects.
Perhaps a dorky outfit or two. My mom made these crazy T-shirt dresses (T-shirt plus eyelet lace at the bottom equals dress). I thought they were brilliant and sassy. I think I might have been wrong.

5. How about music? Did you like a band or a song in your childhood (or, worse, your pre-adolescence) that makes you laugh with a bit of blushing shame now?

I used to have a record player... and, for some reason, I used to play the Ghostbusters theme song over, and over, and over, and over...
Offshoot boy bands like 5 and 98 Degrees. Backstreet Boys and N'Sync were legit. Anything else, not so much...
Crocodile Rock by Elton John. But I still rock out to it from time to time. :)
Ace of Base - first album I bought
Savagegarden and California Raisins
Not really. I think I still like everything I listened to when I was younger.
Hmmm, not sure I want to admit this but I did like The New Kids on the Block when I was in the 4th grade.
Ice Ice Baby, Dude! But I have to admit...I laugh when I hear it now but not out of blushing shame. I just somehow still...rather guiltily...love it.

6. Is there a place from your childhood that seemed grand or immense then that now seems small and strange? Have any of your favorite childhood places been removed?

I used to think my elementary school was huge and brilliant. It was brand new when I entered first grade... when I was maybe just over 3 feet tall or so. I went back in high school because the principle asked me to come sing. Everything seemed so shabby and tiny. I also miss the open field that was once Yoder Dairy that is now Barnes & Noble, TGIFridays, and dozens of other shops and restaurants.
Disney World. (I know: sad). I don't know if Discovery Zone has been removed, but it was pretty crucial to my childhood...
Our neighborhood grocery store is now a Family Center but when I visit it now I'm shocked by how small it is compared to my memories of it! My high school has been completely remodeled now and the neighborhood is much more developed. I'm surprised by how much has changed and it saddens me a little.
The water slide at the Wheeling Park Pool used to be huge, from what I know, it is still there
My earliest memories of America took place in a housing complex at Ft. Monroe that was blown away during hurricane Isabel. The only thing left of my house where I met my first "American" friend, a sweet Korean immigrant named Cecile, is the tree in the front yard that we both climbed and fell off of once.
Well, in a sense, the whole world seems smaller, less grand, less impressive. I was skeptical, questioning, and discriminating from my earliest days, but with age these qualities have only become more pronounced. Much of the wonder of things is thus diminished. Not so much with the big stuff, in my case--large-scale patterns impress me--but particular things are not so big and impressive. For example, most people see a particular play or opera or whatever and think it is overwhelmingly well done, but it is extremely rare that anything ever overwhelms me. Are they dim-witted or less sophisticated, or am I dead inside...or both?
Thankfully, not many of my childhood places have been removed. My father and I built an amazing (truly, objectively, quite impressive) fort in the back yard of my old house. It was a huge pirate ship with ramparts and a hull and a trap door and rope ladders. We built it from scratch and it towered 2 stories tall. We sold the house to friends and they finally took it down a few years ago. That is sad.
Monticello was much bigger when I was a kid.
My Grandma McCarthy's house was always so fascinating to us. Particularly the outside garden that surrounded a fish pond. When I was a child it seemed like a Secret Garden. When I walked through it several years ago it was still large but had lost its magical luster. A shriveled shell of my memory. The camellias not quite as full - the palms not nearly as tall. Now that Grandma is gone though - I would give anything for a walk through that garden...

7. Did you believe in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, or The Tooth Fairy? If so, when did you learn your parents were behind it all?

I was pretty traumatized. I took things so seriously. I figured it out on Easter Sunday. I waited in my parents room... I was very creepy about it. I waited at the foot of the bed until my mother woke up and noticed me. She greeted me and I said, "There's no such thing as the Easter Bunny OR Santa Claus, is there?" She almost seemed relieved to answer my question. I felt so belittled... it was so condescending, to me, to take advantage of a child's innocence and gullibility to perpetuate a cute little lie.
I did believe wholeheartedly but can't pinpoint when I realized the truth. Mom accuses me of continuing to believe in magic. At least it clearly wasn't a traumatic transition!
I had an idea they weren't quite real but was in denial for a long time. Lucky for me my sisters were much younger so I got to continue the charade for much longer than most!
Yes to Santa Claus and No to the other two... an older Jewish kid told me there was no such thing as Santa Claus when I was 4, almost 5. I promptly told a Catholic kid and that caused a few problems.
I believed in it all, wrote them all yearly letters and made up reasons why they looked like my parents (they didn't want to frighten me so they shape shifted). I found out about E.B. and T.F. around 8 but held fast in Santa until 10 when my parents asked me to help them set up for my little brother. I would tell him fantastic stories and always had scientific-like answers to any of his doubtful questions.
I was about 4 years old when I asked Dad point blank about all three. I told him it didn't make sense and I didn't believe it. That said, I used to sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve and I would try not to fall asleep, because I wanted to see the proof for myself. Like I said, always a skeptic.
I remember believing in Santa Claus. I learned he did not exist on a trip to Toy's R Us. I think I was 5 or 6. I looked forward to loosing a tooth because I knew my parents would leave me money not because I believed in the Tooth Fairy.
I don't remember believing in any of them, although, apparently I did. I only recall one vague Easter when I could have sworn I saw the Easter Bunny hopping through the back yard. Seriously...I still can't explain that one. Perhaps it was so long ago that my brain is combining memories. "Childhood Me" is still convinced on some level that out of all of them, surely, the larger than life bunny with colored eggs is the real one.

8. Have you seen one of the kids with whom you went to elementary school or who lived in your childhood neighborhood in the past few years? Was it strange? Did you know it was him or her right away or did that person recognize you first?

I saw a girl once that I was relatively close to in high school. I was very fond of her. I bumped into her about a few years ago and she was very pregnant, not as cheerful, no ring. I didn't have the heart to ask her what happened... we both just talked around her huge tummy and walked away awkwardly. I hope she's alright now...
A girl with whom I went to middle school wound up on my freshman hall at William and Mary. That was weird but not as weird as you'd think. What *is* strange, however, is seeing elementary school people on Facebook and finding out that they're married, pregnant, now vastly overweight, or something.
I grew up in the same town from 4 years old on, so I recognize everyone right away and we always have nice talks and hugs to exchange.
I was in the 3rd and 4th grades with this girl... During my last year of college, I saw her at McDonalds, where she had been working for 4 years. It was strange. I recognized her and she recognized me. How do you tell someone that has been working at McDonald's for four years when you have spent the last years traipsing around Europe?
My first day of public school (in the middle of 1st grade from a catholic school) this little boy whose mother always dressed him up in Sunday clothes for school became my friend. We stayed friends throughout elementary school and never saw each other after. A year ago he looked me up on facebook. He looked like a stretched out version of the kid I knew and judging from our chat and messages, he was still the same friendly loving person he was in 1st grade.
Well, with facebook, the unwashed masses that went to my high school keep finding me and friending me. They are all married with children, fat, and divorced. How horrifying. They all know who I am, but I rarely have any clue at all who they are.
No
I ran into a girl that was one of my best friends in California (3rd grade) when I was in 7th grade here (Virginia). There she was just sitting in my Sunday School class. We hadn't kept in touch at all but I recognized her immediately. I don't think she recognized me though...It was strange. Surreal...Kind of disappointing. I think I remembered us being closer than we were.

9. How were you with the doctor's office or shots as a kid? Have you overcome any of your childhood fears in the health department or are you still bothered by certain things?

I was so terrified of needles as a child. One of my earliest memories invovled a doctor needing to simply prick my finger. It took five nurses and my mother to hold me down so the doctor could get his blood sample. The device used to extract a dot of blood, at the time, made a sort of stapler sound. I screamed bloody murder when I heard the sound. I'm still pretty immature about needles. I have to look away or ask someone to distract me.
I still hate going to the doctor's (though shots don't bother me in themselves). I had a ton of orthodontic work done as a kid, so I'm totally comfortable with anything involving my mouth. Though now I always associate soft rock and country pop (Shania) with dental offices.
I hated the doctor's office but had to keep a straight face because my sisters were always watching and I needed to be strong for them. Needles scared the tar out of me but I've since gotten over that.
I was raised by a doctor... so, I'm pretty desensitized to it all.
I hated needles and like the gom jibar of Dune, would imagine pain greater than what was actually inflicted. In fact, most of the time I started screaming and crying before the dr even touched me! I still can't see my blood drawn without a sick stomach but my fear of needles has subsided for the most part. Still hate the idea of blades though
I don't like needles, but they are never as bad as I work myself up to thinking they will be. I had reason though to not like needles as a kid. Once I was very sick and was hospitalized, and needed an IV, and the nurse was either incompetent or I don't know what, but she couldn't find a vein, so she kept sticking me over and over and over trying to find one. I don't particularly enjoy everything that is involved with physicals, but I am pleased to have health care now and look forward to having regular appointments.
I cried if I knew I was going to get a shot. Now, I just get a little nervous. Also, I cried when I went to the eye doctor. I had to go every year until I was in my early 20s because of my bad vision. The eye drops were very traumatic.
I never LOVED shots, but I remember the doctor telling me that, if the shot hurt, then I could kick him in the knee. Was tempted a few times but never did because I didn't want to loose the milkshake that I knew was waiting for me after my appointment. I think I was usually pretty brave though. Still am for the most part...I like to be alone. That way I'm not tempted to break down.

10. What was that one particular thing you were always "too young" to do that you were looking forward to the most... that turned out to be not as great as you thought it would?

I wanted to go out late at night... like the tortured writers and artists from books and movies, I wanted to get a drink and write in my journal or meet lots of interesting people... and then I did... and they weren't all that interesting...
Seeing rated R movies
I was so pumped to be 16 so I could drive a red sports car. Turns out my parents believed you should buy your own car. So, I purchased the more reasonable option; a white 1990 Geo Prism.
I was always too young to stay up very very late. When I went off to college, I found it fun to do just that. Now, I still like staying up, but unfortunately, I have to get up the next day, and do stuff. No fun anymore. Or worse yet, I have to stay up late, and I have to get up early.
Growing boobs.
Um...I guess I looked forward to driving, but that actually was awesome. I looked forward to seeing any movies I wanted without my parents, and that was awesome. No, little was denied me as a child and the few things that were turned out not to disappoint.
I wanted to be a ninja assassin. Now I realize killing people is not cool.
Shaving my legs and wearing make up. It's nice to be pretty and dolled up but sometimes - it's just an inconvenience!